- #1
PeterPumpkin
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Homework Statement
Does a perfect ball roll or slide down a perfectly frictionless ramp?
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
Let P be the contact point of the ball with the ramp.
Then it appears to me there is a torque (about the contact point, P) acting on the ball due to its weight, W. Therefore it should rotate ie roll.
Is this right?
(The torque has magnitude W*R*tan(Theta) where R is the radius of the ball and Theta is the angle of the ramp. The Normal force does not exert a torque as it passes through P. )